Educational development and economic development are continually interactive and these two factors progress hand in hand. Education is an ingredient of economic advancement and increased production permits greater expenditure for more and better education. In all educational planning an optimum balance must be maintained between investment in educational and economic undertakings. The logic inherent in economic development shows the bond between different states in the country.
Technological advancement is often said that what is in print is ipsofacto out of date. The pace of scientific advancement is so rapid and its influence on the life of the nation is so wide that an ordinary citizen cannot remain immune to its influence. Therefore, education right from the Secondary level should develop the practical skills, mechanical aptitude, and vocational interests of pupils. It requires scientific knowledge to replace tradition. People must venture to acquire modern practices of economic activities and apply them to real problems of economic development. Education provides scientific knowledge and its application to daily living and thus produce scientifically oriented citizens.
For a sustainable development, it is imperative to develop new technologies provided it should be acceptable to people, economical, and also environment friendly. “Change” is the rule of the world and the problems that we face today must be solved with technology. From agriculture, industries, communication to genetic transformation, advanced materials need new technology. What one feels as imagination today will be a reality in future.
Formal education in India is a recent one; more so relating to education to economic development is even more recent that dates back to a few decades. Non formal education existed time immemorial in the form of gurukula. However, organized schooling started as late as in the nineteenth century. New growth – theory was developed in 1990’s postulating that education enhances national productivity beyond individual’s productivity. Formal education raises a question that in order to increase the productivity, what type of education should be provided without losing the efficiency and quantity as well as the quality of education? Expenditure on education should be similar to investment on the machines.
Scientific advancement and technological changes are the two important drivers of economic development. A few major sources of advancement are exploit knowledge, create and distribute which leads to scientific advancement, improvement in wealth and in the quality of life. This change has caused a great impact on the society and on the economic as a whole. A high rate of innovation has left no field untouched; and has created more knowledge – intensive industries and services and rising skill requirements. It has improved the life style of individuals to improvements in economic development.
These changes imply that science, technology and innovation are key to improving economic performance and social well-being. The role played by science technology for the transformation of the society as well as the economy, increased competition and globalization have led the government change the policy tools accordingly for the purpose of fostering scientific and technological progress for economic growth and greater social well- being.
Every scientific invention has led to certain changes in every field, especially in the field of science and technology and this in turn influences every aspect of life in particular and global change in general. Some of the areas in which science and technology have made a significant role are as follows:
Agriculture – Over the last decades, India has changed from a predominantly agricultural economy to rapid and steady mechanization, industrialization, and urbanization and it has changed the face of India; and with respect to the individual, the income has increased to a great extent. Science and technology has provided foundation for Green Revolution and have made possible the food prices to remain at a lower level or at an affordable level for the past few decades. Improved knowledge of plant biology and breeding techniques led to better seeds and cultivation practices that drastically increased yields. Except Africa, rest of the developing world could increase the production of food at a faster rate than the increase in population growth. Research in plant biology and related areas gives hope for solutions to problems such as increased productivity, nutritional content of the food, soil degradation, harvest loss, the drought and the pest control.
Health – Science and technology form the basis for the largest improvement in human health over the past century. Life expectancy has increased worldwide. Certain diseases have been eliminated and certain infectious diseases have declined sharply. Similarly, many diseases and conditions have been either eliminated or controlled in developing countries where as they still continue to plague the developing countries. This indicates the development of science and technology in developing countries. Development of science and technology alone cannot turn the situation altogether but the awareness regarding basic health service or public education campaigns against certain viral diseases such as dengue, cholera etc too plays a vital role. This will have a strong impact on health outcomes. Similarly, knowledge and diffusion of knowledge cannot always solve a problem without scientific and technological infrastructure. Hence, both are needed for an improved outcome. Education system also determines the level of technology diffusion and its use, which in turn depends on the scientific literacy of the people.
Energy – Efficiency in renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, modern biomas has led to the sustainability of energy use in transportation, industry and housing.
Water – Water is another vital and scarce resource, which was made important by the advancement of technology or technological innovation. Water pollution is another major factor that degrades fresh water and marine ecosystem, which leads to a significant loss of biodiversity. Hence, it is very imperative to make use of the available technologies as well as develop new technologies to provide an adequate supply of ‘safe’ water in urban and rural areas in households, agriculture and industrial sectors.
Environment – Local issues such as air pollution and water pollution; regional issues like acid deposition; global issues such as climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion, loss of biological diversity, and land degradation adversely affect the incomes of poor people who depend on natural resources for their livelihood. The key challenge now is to identify the local, regional and global environmental factors that affect the sustainable development and integrate the environmental policies with national development policies and enhance the use of technology with reduced costs to meet the needs of the population.
Information Communications Technology (ICT) – Information Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the fastest growing industries that provides jobs not only for millions of people but it also helps in innovation and development. A study conducted by Analysys Mason in December 2010 on the development of wireless broadband in India found that each percentage point increase in mobile broadband penetration in India could increase India’s GDP by INR 162 billion, or 11%, by 2015. The study further indicated that, an additional 5 MHZ of 3G spectrum to each license could increase the INR by 538 billion of GDP, which means an additional 3.3% growth in GDP by 2015.
Science, technology, and innovation play a pivotal role in economic development of a nation. In recent years, multi factor productivity MFP reflects greater efficiency in the use of labour and capital. More innovative ways of producing goods and services due to rapid technological progress has resulted in the increase in MFP. The quality of capital and manpower have also increased due to a good amount of investment in Information and Technology. ICT, a key factor, has improved the performance in stagnant service sectors, facilitated communication, reduced the cost of transaction, and finally has enabled more extensive networking and co-operation among firms. Thus, innovation depends more on net working and co-operation, including between science and industry. Innovation from many sources is spread more widely across sectors, including service sectors and this has formed the basis for economic growth. Investment in ICT, which is a crucial factor in the new economy, has increased considerably in recent years. For instance, in the second half of 1990’s the diffusion of ICT has resulted in the emergence of the internet, although there are differences across the countries.
The role of science and technology is not low in service sector too. This is evident from the rapid productivity growth experienced by different service sector. The importance of ICT in service sector is clear from productivity improvements in many service sectors including transport, communication, wholesale and retail trade, finance and business services etc. Sectors such as transport and communication are more technology-intensive than many manufacturing industries. Knowledge-intensive sectors, such as computing and consultant services, have also experienced a very rapid growth. Many other services have also become more innovative following the implementation of ICT.
ICT thus plays an important role in many changes in the innovation process. Although computers seem to exist in every field, the use of ICT is concentrated in the service sector and in a few manufacturing sectors. However, after 1995, World Wide Web and the browser spread rapidly throughout the economy. ICT has contributed to the increase in networking among firms and it is a key technology for speeding up the innovation process. It has played an important role in making science more efficient and linking it more closely to business.
It makes possible faster diffusion of codified knowledge and ideas.
Prospective drugs are identified and harmful drugs are rejected using computer simulations rather than time-consuming tests.
ICT is a technology area where highest rate of innovations are recorded by patents and are used effectively.
Conclusion
There exists a close link between economic growth and investment in Science and Technology. There are evidences to prove this point.
- Ever since the industrial revolution in 1870, scientifically and technologically developed countries have become increasingly wealthy. They have had the most Science and Technology capacity and have grown faster. (Pritchett, Divergence Big Time 1995).
- Returns to R&D have been consistently positive and high in developed and the developing countries. The findings have shown that there exists a positive correlation between innovation and growth. It is confirmed that, ” the interaction between the technology and skill is critical in determining growth, productivity and the distribution of earnings”. LAC World Bank 2002. Research and development have showed a consistent double digit returns at the firm and industry level as well as in agricultural sector.
- The most important fact that technology has been contributing towards the accelerated growth in some developing countries (eg. China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand, Malasia) is that the high tech manufacturing exports have grown faster than all other categories and the developing countries, which are now benefiting from a combination of technological capacity, openness to trade, and other comparative advantages such as lower wages are also experiencing accelerated rates of economic growth. Incomes of people are also increasing proportionately with growth rate.
Science and technology leads to new products firms and markets.
Thus, both (science and technology) are very essential ingredients of economic growth.